Unfaithful Angels: How Social Work Has Abonded Its Mission

by Mark E. Courtney and Harry Specht

Book Overview

In this provocative examination of the fall of the profession of social work from its original mission to aid and serve the underprivileged, Harry Specht and Mark Courtney show how America's excessive trust in individualistic solutions to social problems have led to the abandonment of the poor in this country. A large proportion of all certified social workers today have left the social services to enter private practice, thereby turning to the middle...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028740866
• ISBN13: 9780028740867
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 209 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

This product came WELL in advance of when it was scheduled to come and was in the condition that it said it would be :)

Private psychotherapy

This is a good book that stresses that private psychotherapy does not equal the mission of social work. This is a book that should be included in all Master's Level social work programs. I bought one for a friend also and he has enjoyed it.

a new and interesting point of view

This book offers an interesting critique of the profession of social work in America, but spends too much time delving into the history of social work without adding any new insights. The authors believe social workers are wrongly entering into private clinical practice in order to make more money and to be their own bosses. Social workers now offer individualized treatment which closely resembles the therapy of psychologists. The authors think this is a mistake for two reasons. First, they believe that society's ills are caused by the social isolation of modern life; therefore individual therapy is not going to be effective in treating people who are already isolated. Second, they argue that it is the job of psychotherapists to help people with problems "intimately related to their selves," while social workers should be working to connect people to resources and support in their communities. Though the authors attempt to solve these problems by proposing the creation of community service centers in every neighborhood, the guidelines they give to create these centers are vague and impractical (read: not funded) at best. The book did not rock my world, but the idea that Americans are isolated and that social workers have an obligation to connect people to each other and to their communities makes sense.

4.5 Stars

Overall, this book brought a major problem of social work clearly into focus: the emergence of psychotherapy. Prior to reading the book, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do in my future profession, but now I've slightly altered that goal. This book won't be eye opening for everyone, but much of the material presented is very interesting and thought-provoking. I am glad to have read it.